


Craft

by uglyvisitors



Category: Arctic Monkeys, Lana Del Rey (Musician), Last Shadow Puppets
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, References to Arctic Monkeys, Teenage Drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2020-10-12 18:22:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20568824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uglyvisitors/pseuds/uglyvisitors
Summary: Matt is the new kid in school. He always did great in all of his classes back at his old school and has a passion for music. It has always been a nice getaway from his reality. He does his best to stay away from any drama in his new environment. All he wants is to find some new friends that have similar interests as him and make it through the school year in this new city. One day, his life takes a wild turn when he is a witness to a group of unusual boys doing something suspicious. They will do everything they can to make sure their mischievous act will remain a secret...tw// death (only people mention it. there's no chapter of it actually happening) bullying, use/abuse of drugs + alcohol.





	1. Chapter One - Prologue

The floor was cold, the room was dark. Matt opened his eyes and couldn't see anything. He felt cold metal against both of his wrist.

_What happened yesterday?_

His head began to throb and he felt weak.

_Where am i?_

"Do you think he's still out?" He heard a voice say from the other side of the door.

"Perhaps he's awake." Another voice mumbled.

"Guys! What if we accidentally killed him!?" He heard another voice shout.

"Then we're all going to prison, fuck!"

"Nick, don't say that! I'm not cut out for prison life."

"Don't be a coward Jamie. Did you forget who we are?" Said Nick.

"No." Jamie mumbled.

"Hm, or we could just... i don't know pretend this never happened and-"

"We're not doing that. Mother said we need to get prepared for the real world now. We are maturing men." Said Nick, interrupting Alex's sarcastic tone.

"Yeah yeah but that's what all parents say." Alex complained then rolled his eyes.

Matt saw a light coming in from the other side at the bottom of the door. He felt the cold floor and walls and tried to feel around the room with his tied hands. He didn't want to bump into anything.

Then he noticed that he could only stand up and walk a few steps before getting pulled back. The chains weren't that long. He was scared for them to open the door.

_Were they the ones that put me here? What kind of place is this!?_

He was too afraid to scream for help because he didn't know who was behind the door.

Alex walked towards the door and got the key out to open it.

The door opened, making a loud creaking sound.

Matt looked to see three silhouettes of guys with long hair.

The one in the middle stepped forward. He assumed that he was the one that opened the door because he had a key in his hand.

He was so afraid, his knees got weak and he tripped onto the floor with his back against the wall. "What do you want? Why am i here?" He said with fear in his voice while attempting to get out of the chains.

Alex knelt down to his level, tilting his head while studying Matt's expression. They could both barely see each other's faces with the small light that was shining in from the open door.

"Ha, he's afraid." Said Alex.

The other two boys began to laugh. Alex chuckled with them but didn't laugh nearly as hard as the others did.

"Why am i here!? Get me out of this place!" Matt screamed. "What did you guys do to me?" He began to get aggressive and Alex grabbed his arm tightly.

"Ah, I wouldn't get too aggressive with us if i were you..." Said Alex calmly.

"Let go." Said Matt, he was struggling to get Alex's hand off of his arm. His next fighting response was to bite him since his hands were tied. Alex hissed then scratched his arm.

Matt screamed from the pain. He noticed that Alex's nails weren't long but he somehow managed to scratch him deeply. "D-did you just hiss at me!?"

"He's a brave one." Alex said with sarcasm, standing up and backing away.

"You just hissed at me..." Matt continued but Alex ignored his comments.

"Listen, we just need to ask you a few questions and then you can leave. Well... depending on how you answer them." Nick explained.

"What!? You can't keep me-"

"Just!" Alex interrupted. "Answer the questions." Said all three of the boys in unison.

Alex began to lick the top of his hand in the spot that was bitten.

"Alex! Stop that." Said Nick.

"Well, it's not his fault Nick. He could be like this for the rest of his life because of you." Said Jamie.

Alex seemed unbothered and continued to lick his hand as if he was unaware of everything around him.

Jamie looked disgusted.

"It will wear off..." Said Nick.

They both stared at Alex with a disgusted and concerned expression as he continued to lick his hand.

"Eventually..." Nick's unsure tone made Jamie worried.

"We've got to tell mother..."

"Tell mother and you're dead!" Nick shouted.

"We have to! She'd know how to fix this."

"No! I'll fix it."

"You just keep making it worse!"

"Uh... hello!" Matt interrupted their bickering.

Alex still seemed unbothered.

"Oh, right! The questions." Said Jamie.

Matt was nervous.

_What kind of questions!? What is this!?_

He tried to play it smart and remain calm to answer what ever they had to ask him.

"Question one..." Nick began. "What is your name?"

"M-matt."

"Matt, what did you do yesterday?" Jamie asked.

"I uh... went to school."

"What did you do at school?" Alex asked, suddenly snapping into reality again in mid lick with his hand still to his face and a intrigued, dark glare.

"I... studied in the library before my first class started then... I went to all of my classes like usual."

"Hm... did you see anything unusual that day?" Jamie asked.

Matt felt his heart racing. "N-no."

"So you didn't see anything suspicious? Perhaps something... you felt like you needed to tell someone about? Maybe you did tell?" Nick continued.

"Ok, fine! I saw Molly copying Abby's work." Matt confessed.

The boys all laughed.

"B-but i swear i didn't tell anyone."

"And nothing else?" Alex asked.

"Nothing, i swear. It was a normal day."

"It worked." Said Jamie.

Matt looked confused. "What worked?"

"I still don't trust him." Said Nick.

"Let me go!" Matt screamed.

He tried rushing out of the room, attempting to break the chains but the boys caught him and held him back before he could try any longer.

"Help!"

"Stop it!" Nick shouted. "Stay!"

Matt stopped fighting but was shaking in fear. "Why me!?"

"Relax." Said Nick. "We just need to know if we can trust you, that's all."

"Why?" 

"You know a secret that you shouldn't know." Said Alex.

"You've got the wrong guy, i know nothing!"

"Guys, i think we should let him go, he seems alright. I don't know if i like this anymore..." Said Jamie. He began to pace around with a worried expression. "What if we get in trouble?" 

"H-he's right! I don't know anything at all." Matt stuttered.

"Wake up Jamie! We can't always trust an outsider. They can be very... very manipulative, remember what mother said." Said Nick, sternly.

Jamie nodded his head. "Yes." He mumbled.

"If you start crying-"

"I'm not crying Nick!" Jamie shouted then looked away to hide his face.

Alex and Nick looked at each other with unsure expressions.

They still weren't sure if they could trust Matt.

They were afraid that this haze would wear off and he'd start to remember the things he witnessed. It was too much of a risk to let him go at the moment.

"We're going to have to keep you... at least for now." Said Nick.

"You lied!" Matt shouted. "I answered your questions!"

"Right... and we never made any promises."

"I'm calling the police!"

"No, please!" Jamie shouted.

Nick hit Jamie's arm. "Shh!"

Jamie rubbed his arm and frowned at Nick.

"Hm, with no phone?" Alex said, raising Matt's phone up.

"Give that back!"

Alex laughed.

"Guys..." Jamie complained.

"What is it Jamie?"

"Nothing." He mumbled.

"Let's go, mother is cooking up something... I can smell it."

The boys began to make their way out of the room.

Jamie stayed behind and stared at Matt with a sad expression.

Matt looked hopeful. He thought he was going to help him.

"Jamie! Let's go!" Nick shouted.

"I've got to lock the door, come on!" Alex added.

Jamie slowly followed them but kept looking back.

Alex locked up the door and they walked down the hall.

"Guys, how long will we keep him and can mother know?" Jamie asked.

"No, she can not. Yet..." Nick answered.

"By morning we will know... If the haze has continued by then, we know that we're in the clear. Then he will be free." Alex explained.

"But-"

"We will not have second thoughts about this." Said Nick.

"Yes, now is that understood Jamie?" Alex reassured in a stern tone.

Jamie nodded.

Nick and Alex continued to walk down the hall. Alex was whistling while tossing the keys up in the air and catching them casually.

Jamie stopped behind them and they didn't realise that he wasn't walking with them now. He frowned at them and stared at the key Alex was tossing around.

He turned to look back at the locked door...


	2. Chapter Two

It was the first day of school in the big city of London. Matt was nervous, he didn't know his way around or anyone here. 

This was already different from what he was use to back at home. Usually he'd meet up with his friends before walking into the school. It felt strange to be alone now.

_You've got this Matt, just wing it._

After his small pep talk to himself, he walked through the doors.

It was very crowded, just what he expected. He looked at his schedule so that he could find his classroom.

There were a few adults around that he assumed were teachers or at least worked here. So he decided to ask them.

They were kind and helped him figure out where he needed to be.

He was really surprised to see that he was one of the first to be in class. Until he looked up at the clock and noticed that he was quite early.

There was only two other students sitting at their desk with their heads down, far across the room from each other. They didn't acknowledge him entering the room and focused on their books.

One kid had short, brown hair and glasses. The other kid had brown roots that faded into a medium blond cut that looked straight out of the 90s'. The blond kid seemed to put a little extra style in his uniform by rolling his sleeves and cuffing the trousers at the bottom. Matt was pretty sure that wasn't allowed and assumed that he was a edgy type of kid.

He automatically regretted prejudging because he felt that was no way to make new friends. That was one of his goals while at this new school.

He wasn't sure where to sit and he figured that these other students probably wouldn't know either. So he didn't bother to ask them.

The room was silent, grey and cold. He awkwardly stood there and began to walk out. He figured that perhaps it was too early for him to be in there anyway.

Before he could leave, the kid with glasses spoke. "Are you lost?"

He turned around to see the boy looking concerned.

"I... yeah uh... i'm not sure if i'm in the right class. I'm new." He explained.

The boy nodded. "Who are you looking for?"

"Mr. Franklin?"

"You've got the right class. Hey, what's your name?"

"Matt and yours?"

"Miles." He said with a kind smile. "Kane." He added.

Matt chuckled at the fact that he felt the need to tell him his last name. He's never met anyone that introduced themselves in that way. 

The other kid look at them while they had this exchange of words but he remained silent and continued to read.

"You can sit here, no one ever sits there." Said Miles. He was pointing at the desk and chair next to him. 

Matt sat down and stared at the chalkboard. He wasn't quite sure what to talk to Miles about. This was his chance to make a good first impression and attempt at making a new friend here. 

_Say something... What do i say? _

"So, where are you from?" Miles asked. 

Matt was glad that he broke the silence first so that he had some sort of prompt to carry on with the conversation. 

"Sheffield." 

"Wow, how do you like London so far?" Miles asked. 

"It's... nice." Matt replied. He didn't really have an opinion on it yet.

He didn't have the chance to really do anything other than stay in his house the whole time unpacking his stuff from his room. He wasn't allowed to go out much, so he wouldn't have went many places anyway. 

"You sound so unsure about that." Miles teased. 

"Well, i don't know. I haven't really explored yet. What is there to do for fun here?" 

"Many things." Miles said with confidence. "I've been here awhile now, i know my way around. I'll tell you everything you need to know, even about the school." 

"Is this a good school?" 

The expression that Miles gave made him feel nervous about his answer. 

The blond kid looked up at them again then continued to read.

"Yeah, it's alright." Said Miles.

"Now you sound unsure." Matt teased. 

"Listen..." Miles chuckled. 

"Yes, except for the fact that it's fucking haunted and everybody here is a possessed freak." Said the blond kid. "With the exception of Miles and i." 

"Is it really haunted." Said Matt. There was a hint of excitement in his tone. 

"No, Jesse tells that to all of the new kids to scare them." Miles explained. 

Jesse laughed. 

Matt was kind of disappointed that it was probably a joke. He thought haunted places were interesting and not really scary. 

He use to sneak away and go exploring with his friends back at home to all of the places around the city that people claimed were haunted. 

"But there is something odd going on with some of the students here. Especially the Rey brothers. I'd definitely stay away from them." 

Matt frowned, looking confused. "The Rey brothers?" 

"Yes, stay away from the Rey brothers." Miles repeated.

"The Rey brothers?" Said the blond kid. "Oh yeah, definitely stay away from them the most." He agreed. "They are vampires." 

"What!?" 

"No no, that's just a wild theory of his. They are pretty strange though..." Said Miles.

"Really?" 

Miles whispered. "Yeah they-"

Suddenly several students walked into the classroom, followed by more. Matt looked at the time and noticed that it was close to the time that class would start.

Miles' eyes quickly shot to them, interrupting his sentence. He stayed silent.

"What?" Matt looked at him strange because he stopped in the middle of his sentence.

Miles pretended to read his book, looking up occasionally. He was being very cautious and watching who was entering the classroom.

He was slowly sinking in his chair and eventually put the book up to his face, pretending to be really focused.

Matt looked confused as he observed the students walking in. 

Suddenly a man walked in with a few books in his hand and placed them on the teacher's desk. He assumed this was Mr. Franklin. He didn't say anything and stared writing some stuff on the chalkboard. 

The classroom was getting to be loud now since there were so many students arriving. Some of them looked at Matt because he was a new face that they didn't recongise but they didn't say anything to him. 

Matt didn't look them in the eyes and continued to scan the room as more students walked in. 

The whole room was talking but suddenly everyone's voices lowered, eventually turning to complete silence. Their eyes all glared up at three boys walking into the room. 

The boys walked in confidently with a dark glare in their eyes, looking down at the other students who were now too uncomfortable to look at them. 

They sat down and all that anyone could hear was the sound of Mr. Franklin writing on the chalkboard. They all stared at what he was writing then took out notebooks from their bags. 

Mr. Franklin turned around and greeted the class. They all greeted him back in unison with a bland tone. "Good morning, Mr. Franklin." 

He carried on with his lecture and didn't mention anything about Matt being a new student. 

Matt thought it was kind of strange because each time that he transferred to a new school, the teacher would always introduce him to the class. It was always awkward and he was dreading that moment. He was kind of glad that the teacher didn't do it this time. 

The three strange boys were listening to the teacher then suddenly one of them kept staring over at Matt with a dark glare while slowly tapping his pencil on the table. The look in his dark brown eyes gave Matt the chills. 

_Why the fuck is he looking at me like that? _

Matt didn't look away and thought it was extremely strange that he was still locking eyes with him even when he stared back. Usually people would look away when they accidentally made eye contact with someone. Matt knew he was doing this intentionally. 

The teacher was still going on with the lecture. Matt was kind of confused about what he was saying because he was referencing things that he said the class learned last week. 

Mr. Franklin's voice was very monotone and boring. The whole class had tired eyes and looked as if they were in a trance, listening to him speak. Some slowly blinked and others kept their eyes opened the entire time. It was all so strange, Jesse and Miles seemed to be the only ones observing this like he was. He still felt one pair of eyes on him, he had to look away each time now. It was getting too weird. 

Eventually he stopped staring at Matt and looked up at the board.

Matt decided to act busy and take notes anyway. He planned on asking Miles about it later on. He seemed nice enough to approach for help. This class seemed to be dragging on forever and he was so exhausted from staying up so late last night unpacking boxes in his room. 

The class eventually ended and everyone started gathering their stuff to leave. The three strange boys were the first ones out of the room. They rudely moved others out of the way.

"Were those the Rey brothers?" Matt asked, looking at Miles. 

"Yep."

"Yeah, total pricks." Jesse said, joining in on the conversation as he caught up with them to walk down the hall.

"What's their problem? One of them wouldn't stop staring at me."

"I know, i saw what he was doing. That was Alex, he does that to everyone. All three of them walk around here like they own the whole school, pushing kids around. He was trying to scare you." Jesse explained. 

"They're bad news. Stay away." Said Miles. 

Matt was thankful for the warning. He also felt like he probably would've stayed away from them anyway just from experiencing that strange encounter. 

"I'd bet money on them being vampires." Said Jesse. 

"Not this again..." Miles complained. 

Matt laughed. "Vampires? Now that's dramatic. They just seem like weird guys. None of that vampire stuff is real man." 

"It is." Jesse insisted. 

Miles and Matt laughed. 

"What kind of proof do you have to build your theory?" Miles asked. "I just think they're criminals. They're always stealing stuff from other students. Who knows what other things they do on the side when no one is looking." 

"Remember when Jason got that really bad paper cut during history yesterday?" Jesse asked Miles. 

"Yes." 

"That weirdo Nick touched the blood on his desk and smelt it while no one was looking. I'm not fucking joking." 

"What the hell?" Said Matt.

"What!?" Said Miles. "If you tell me he licked it, i'm going to be sick." 

"He didn't, he just wiped it on his sleeve." 

"That's gross but... Matt's right. Vampires aren't real." 

"Right, he's just a creep." Said Matt. 

"Okay, you guys. When they turn into their true form and become blood sucking demons in front of our eyes one day. Don't say i didn't fucking warn-" 

"Jesse, shh! They're right there." Said Miles, pointing ahead. 

They were walking in the crowd way ahead of them.

"You're right. They may be able to hear me with their super enhanced vampire ears."

Matt and Miles gave him a strange look then kept their eyes on the three walking ahead.

The three boys turned around the corner and Jesse noticed that a book fell out of Nick's bag without him noticing.

"Guys look." Jesse whispered and gave them both a tap on the arm.

"What?" Said Miles. 

"You know those weird black books they are always writing in at lunch?" 

"Yes." 

"Guess who just dropped one." 

Miles looked to see what he was pointing at and saw the black book on the floor.

"I bet there's vampire secrets in it." Jesse said with excitement. 

"Jesse, no." Said Miles. 

They all approached the book and the hall was clearing up quickly, indicating that class was almost starting. 

"Guys, we should go. We're going to be late." Said Miles. "We should just leave it." 

"But this is our chance." Said Jesse. "They'll never know." 

"If they find out we took one of their precious little journals, we're done for. Let's go." Said Miles. 

"Yeah, i agree." Said Matt. He decided to start walking ahead with Miles. They looked back at Jesse kneeling down in front of the book, observing it. 

"Jesse!" Miles said in a high pitched whisper. "Let's go!"

"Fine." Jesse huffed then caught up to them. 

"We don't want to get involved with them." Said Miles. 

"Duh, i'm pretty sure that's what the two of you have been telling me this whole time?" Said Matt. 

"Yes." Miles agreed.

There was a small crowd in the next hall, going towards the same way they were.

This was Jesse's chance to get "lost" in the crowd and turn back. He was too eager to get at least a peek of what was in that book. All three of the boys had these matching books and they were always writing in them at lunch while whispering to each other and laughing. Jesse figured this couldn't be school work. 

He decided to sneak away from Miles and Matt. 

_They'll never know... _ Jesse convinced himself while looking down at the book. 

He quickly grabbed the book, stuffing it in his bag then ran away giggling like a child to class. 

It was far too risky to read it here at school. He planned on reading it at home...


	3. Chapter Three

"I can't believe this!" Alex shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

"I'm sure it's in here somewhere." Said Nick. He was frantically digging through his school bag.

"How could you lose your book!?"

"By losing it..." Jamie joked.

"This isn't a laughing matter Jamie." Said Alex, glaring at him.

"I didn't lose it..." Nick said in a nervous, hopeful tone. "Also don't be so loud, mother could walk through that door any minute."

"Yeah and she's going to put you on punishment for the rest of your fucking life if you don't find that book." Said Jamie with a smirk on his face. He was also busy playing a game on his phone. 

"That's very true. He will be on punishment but i still don't see why you're laughing about this." Said Alex.

Jamie continued to smirk, holding in his laughter. "I don't know... Nick is always preaching about how we need to cut down and work our problems out the normal way. Maybe this is a sign."

"Yeah but we still need to practice." Said Nick. "Ugh! Where's my book!?" He complained then tossed the school bag and began searching around the kitchen. 

Alex gave Jamie a suspicious glare. "Jamie, did you..." 

"No." Jamie responded quickly then laughed. "Don't you try it Alex."

"Did you hide Nick's book? This isn't a good time for one of your little pranks. We've got studying to do."

"I didn't, i swear!" Jamie protested. 

Alex continued the expression at Jamie. "If only i could master that mind reading spell..." 

Jamie looked up at him. "Stop giving me that ugly look."

"Ugly?" Said Alex.

"Yes, stop doing that look. It's creepy and everybody hates it." 

He looked down and continued to play the game on his phone, trying to ignore him. The volume of the game was up loud. The music and sound effects on the game was kind of annoying. It was just adding to how aggravated Alex was.

"W-who's everybody?" Alex tried to say with confidence but failed. Jamie could definitely tell it bothered him.

"Everybody! Everybody at school talks about it." 

"Really?" 

"Yeah and you're never going to master that spell. No matter how long you give someone that annoying look. It's embarrassing."

"You're never going to master that spell." Alex mimicked Jamie in a nagging tone. "Fuck off." 

Jamie stuck his tongue out between his teeth and laughed weirdly just to aggravate Alex more. His eyes stayed on the game but he could feel Alex giving him a look. 

The sound of his laughter and the annoying song on the game made Alex snap. "Give me that!" He said, taking Jamie's phone.

Jamie quickly reached for it. "Hey!"

"Guys!" Nick shouted.

"What? It's not my fault Alex won't accept the truth. He's never mastering that spell. Not even mother has."

"Hah, that's probably what she wants us to think..." Said Nick.

"Give me that back!" Jamie shouted. 

Alex sat up from the kitchen table and held the phone up high. Jamie was tall enough to reach his hand but Alex kept moving around, making it impossible to grab. He began to chase him as he ran away. 

He tackled Alex down but he kept a strong grip on the phone. Not allowing Jamie to take it from him. 

"My score! Give it back! I was so close to beating that level!" 

"No!" Alex shouted. "Take back what you said!" 

"No!"

"You guys! Pipe down!" Nick shouted. 

Alex and Jamie kept arguing while fighting over the phone, ignoring Nick. 

He tried to ignore them too and continued to search for the book around the kitchen. 

He remembered taking it with him to school this morning. All three of them weren't allowed to take their books anywhere with them outside of their home. Mother wouldn't allow it. They did it anyways because they felt like they were responsible enough not to lose them. Nick was afraid that she had proved her point. Maybe they weren't responsible. 

Alex and Jamie were still wrestling over the phone. Nick decided to look upstairs for his book in his room.

"I thought it was in my bag the whole time..." Said Nick out loud. He was trying to rethink everything from today to see if he remembered where he could have lost it. 

He was beginning to think that perhaps he forgot and really left it home this morning. That was what he hoped for.

He first noticed that it was gone when they went to eat lunch. He hadn't noticed that it was gone during the classes that he went to after dropping the book. So he wasn't really sure which time of the day it went missing. 

Suddenly he heard a very loud scream from Jamie. 

He ran downstairs to see what was going on.

Suddenly he stopped mid step when he saw them. 

"Put me down!" Jamie cried. 

"Alex! What are you doing!? Nick shouted.

"Take it back." Alex said sternly with his hand up and a dark look in his eyes. 

Jamie was levitating high up and looked like he was struggling to breathe.

"Nick! Help!" He screamed.

"Alex!" Nick shouted. "Stop!" 

"Say it Jamie." Said Alex in a low, stern tone.

"Alex! What is your problem!? It's not that serious! Put him down!" 

"Say it Jamie!" Alex shouted. 

"I take it back! I take it back! Put me down! Please!" Jamie shouted. "Nick!"

Alex put his hand down harshly and Jamie fell to the floor causing a loud thud.

The expression on Alex's face was cold. He tightened his jaw and one fist with a ruffle through his hair, staring down at Jamie.

Nick ran to assist Jamie. "Are you okay?"

Jamie coughed. "Yeah, i'm fine." He said, holding his arm that he fell on. 

Nick looked back at Alex who was now turned the other way, arms crossed with anger in his eyes.

"Alex, you've gone mad! How could you?" He said. 

"How could he?" Alex mumbled.

"Man, what's your problem? What has gotten into you lately?" Said Jamie. 

"I'm absolutely fine." 

Nick walked up closer to look at something he noticed about him. 

"Alex, look at me." He said. 

Alex was avoiding eye contact with him. 

"Look at me!" 

"What?" Alex said sternly. 

"You don't look so well. What's happening to you?" 

"What do you mean? I'm fine."

"How did you do that just now? That was really-" 

"Powerful? Hah, i know." Alex interrupted Nick's sentence. 

"Yes... a little too powerful. Mother hasn't taught us levitation yet. In fact, there's so many steps that she told us we need to learn before getting into anything like that. How'd you learn it so fast?" Jamie asked.

"She taught me." Said Alex with confidence, shrugging one shoulder. 

"What?" Said Nick in a disappointed tone. "Really?" 

"Without us?" Said Jamie, mirroring Nick's disappointed feeling.

"Yeah." Said Alex. He seemed really confident and annoyed with their questions.

"Why would she just teach you? That's strange." Jamie questioned.

Nick agreed. "Yeah weird... we're all supposed to learn together."

"Well maybe i'm just the more powerful son." Alex mumbled.

"Alex, what is your fucking problem?" Said Jamie.

"I don't know... Is it just me or does he look ill, just look at his eyes." Said Nick. 

Jamie got up and walked closer to Alex as he looked at both of them with a cold stare. "I'm fine." He said.

"No man, you look sick. Your eyes are all cloudy." Said Jamie.

Alex's brown eyes had a cloudy look. The brown was being washed out by white slowly. His eyes were turning a milky, light hazel.

"I feel fine. You guys are just jealous of my abilities." He said, beginning to slur his words.

"No we-"

"No!" He shouted, interrupting Jamie. He looked extremely sick by each passing second.

Nick and Jamie looked at each other with a concerned expression. Something was not right about him.

"First you call me ugly! Then you say i look sick! I'm not sick. You are just jealous of my power. I'm fine, so fuck off!" Alex shouted.

Nick grabbed his arm because he noticed him struggling to stand. "Alex, we're just concerned."

"Don't touch me!" He snapped at him, snatching his arm away.

He began to walk away but he only took a few steps before stumbling and falling to the floor. 

"Alex!" Jamie and Nick said in unison, they quickly approached him.

"Alex!?" Nick said, shaking his body but he was not responding. 

Jamie moved Alex's hair away from his face to look at him. His eyes were closed. 

"What do we do?" Said Jamie, panicking. 

"Is he breathing?" Nick asked.

Jamie checked and nodded his head yes. 

"Call the doc-" 

Suddenly they heard the door opening. It was mother arriving home. Jamie ran from the lounge to the entry area. 

He quickly explained to her the best he could that there was something wrong with Alex. She was really confused because his panicking sentences weren't making any sense. 

"Honey, what is?" She said, trying to understand. 

"Come here!" He tugged at her arm. 

She had bags in her hands. She put them down at the door step and followed him quickly. 

"Wha-" She said, stopping to see Alex on the floor. "Alex!?" 

All three of them surrounded him, trying to wake him up. 

"What happened!?" Mother asked. 

"I-i don't know he was acting all weird and then suddenly fainted." Nick explained.

"What was he doing?" 

"He looked sick. He was being really mean to us. Well... more than usual and levitated Jamie!" 

"Levitated!?" She shouted. 

"Yeah he said you taught him it." Said Jamie. 

"No! None of you should be playing around with levitation spells. It's extremely dangerous when done without the proper training." 

"He definitely levitated Jamie, so he's learned some way. I don't know how." 

"How are his eyes?" Said Mother. Alex was on his side, she rolled him onto his back and checked his eyes after hearing Nick's statement. 

"No no no." She cried. "Alex honey, wake up!" 

"Is he going to be okay!?" Said Jamie. 

Nick paced around. "What do we do?" 

Mother didn't say a word and rushed into the kitchen. The boys watched anxiously. 

She began to raid it, finding different bottles and put them on the table. 

"Jamie, go pick a rose from the garden." She demanded. 

"Yes, mother." He rushed away. 

"Nick, go get two candles and my blue book." 

"On it!" He rushed away to go downstairs. 

She continued to raid the kitchen, looking at bottles and putting them with the rest. 

Now that all the bottles were found, she began to pour stuff into a mixing bowl. She measured everything carefully and quickly as she could. 

"One rose!" Said Jamie, running back into the kitchen. 

"Good, thank-" She said, pausing mid sentence when she saw them. 

"Jamie, this is a tulip!" 

"What?" 

"I need a rose!" 

"Ahh! They all look the same!" He shouted, running out again. 

She continued to mix everything. 

Meanwhile Nick was downstairs in the library, searching for the book. He knew the one she was talking about but he wasn't sure where it was. 

"Ok... blue book... blue book." He said to himself, scanning the room. 

He quickly raided the area where she kept most of her special books and found it after some time. Then he snatched two candles off of the table of the library. 

"I've got it!" He said, running up the stairs. 

He placed the book on the table. "Is there anything else i can do?" He asked frantically. 

"Go help Jamie, he's picking a rose. Then i need both of you to get Alex into the room." She requested. "Take the book. You'll need to look at chapter seven to know exactly how to set him up. Please read through it carefully and do exactly as it tells you." 

"Yes mother." He nodded. Then made his way out to the garden. 

Jamie was sitting on a chair, looking stressed with his head in his hands. 

"Jamie! What are you doing sitting around? We have to save Alex!" 

Jamie sighed. "We don't have any roses. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have upset him like that." 

"Now is not the time for talking. We have to find a rose somewhere in this garden." Said Nick. 

"I've looked everywhere." 

"Well keep looking!" Nick demanded. 

Jamie got up and continued to look around the garden for a rose with him. 

It took them awhile. The garden was huge and they didn't really know the names to any of these flowers. There were so many and time was ticking. 

Suddenly mother walked into the garden. "The mixture is nearly finished. Where is the rose?" She asked. 

"Um..." Said the boys in unison. 

"You're wasting time!" She complained and went right over to the roses. 

Suddenly they felt so bad. "You don't know what a rose looks like?" Nick harshly whispered to Jamie. 

"What!? Neither did you, obviously." Jamie whispered. 

Mother was annoyed with their bickering. "Please go take your brother to the room. Nick, you've got the steps in the book. Remember to follow them in order and do exactly as it says. The moment you do, the ritual begins. This means you are to invite me into the ritual when i arrive with the mixture." She demanded. 

"Got it." Said Nick. The boys ran off to go assist Alex. 

He was still unconscious on the floor. 

"Alex?" Said Jamie. He was still trying to wake him up. "At least he's still breathing." 

"We have to find a way to get him upstairs." Said Nick. 

They both tried picking him up together but it wasn't working out well. They weren't sure how they were going to carry him up two flights of stairs. 

"We can just... drag him?" Jamie suggested. 

"No, he'll get a head injury." Said Nick. 

"Have any better ideas then?" 

Nick stood there in thought for a moment, looking at Alex.

"I know, we could put one of his arms on each of our shoulders. That way we can just kind of walk him up the stairs?" Nick suggested. "Very carefully..." 

"I still think my idea is faster." Said Jamie with a shrug. 

"Well your idea involves Alex getting injured. Grab an arm." Said Nick. He knelt down to Alex and needed Jamie's help to get his other arm up. 

Jamie began to help him and they both were able to get Alex to stand up with them supporting his body upward.

His head was down and his hair covered his face. It was difficult for them to keep him standing up. They knew that they had to figure out a way to get him upstairs somehow, time was ticking. 

Meanwhile, mother was still in the kitchen. She was nearly finished with the mixture. 

She was very confident that this would work for him. He was showing all of the classic signs of something she was very familiar with. She didn't know how or why this was happening to him but she knew that she had to act fast. There was no time for questioning. 

Eventually the boys got Alex upstairs and did all of the steps by the book. 

They hoped that they didn't miss anything or do it wrong. 

"Did we place him on the right pattern?" Said Jamie, looking at the book. 

"It looks similar to me." Said Nick. 

"What do we do now?" Jamie said while pacing. 

"We wait." 

Jamie couldn't stop pacing. He was so nervous. 

Suddenly he heard the door opening and he knelt down next to Nick where Alex was. They were both on their knees in a sitting position, patiently waiting for whatever mother had to say. 

She walked in with a platter that had rose petals and cups filled with the liquid mixture. 

They watched her expression. It was so strange how calm she seemed suddenly. Her entire energy changed from when she was downstairs. She seemed very confident in this. Although she didn't say a word, they could sense the change. Somehow it made them feel a little more at ease too. 

She walked over to the part of the floor where Alex was. Then knelt in the same position as the boys but she was at the end of Alex where his feet were. 

"Invite me in." She said lowly, closing her eyes. 

Nick looked down at the book and tried to find the proper words to say. He read them out loud then passed the book to Jamie. Since he was apart of the set up, he needed to invite her in too for it to be equal. 

He read the words and mother kept her eyes closed. 

Jamie then slid the book over to her. She glance down at it. 

"No worries my child. This one is deep within my heart." Said mother, putting her hands together and closing her eyes again.

They watched her in silence and looked at Alex as she softly spoke her words over him. 

No matter how bad or good a situation was, they were trained to take it as a learning experience. They were always learning from her and wanted to become just as powerful as her one day. 

Although studying seemed to be cancelled for tonight, they would all learn a valuable lesson. That trying to cheat your way ahead to great power is never the proper route. That the truest form of power comes from a very unique journey.


	4. Chapter Four

Jesse was asleep with a pencil in his hand, slouching over onto the kitchen table with his head resting on his school textbook. He was going to study but that didn't go as planned. He snored so loud that he woke himself up.

"Huh what?" He jolted and looked around the kitchen. 

It was dark. The only light that he had was the dimly lit lamp hanging above him. "Not again..." He sighed. 

This happened far too often. He would attempt to study and get distracted with something then fall asleep until some random hour in the middle of the night. 

He looked at a sketch of a badly drawn dinosaur next to him. The sketch he spontaneously started when taking what he called a small break from studying.

He closed his textbook and began packing up his stuff then quietly walked to his bedroom. He was too tired to care about studying now. 

He didn't want his parents to know that he was up. Although, he wasn't sure what time it was. He knew that it was probably really late.

There were too many nights where his mother caught him awake, playing video games or talking on the phone to his friends. He couldn't risk another punishment of getting his phone taken away.

He thought he was too old to have a set bed time. His parents didn't agree.

He glanced over at the stolen book on the table next to his bed. Suddenly remembering what he did earlier. 

When he got home after school, he began to feel guilty about stealing it. So he had been contemplating on whether he should read it or not. 

_We don't want to get involved with them._

The words of Miles played in his head. 

He planned on somehow getting the book back to Nick, without him realising he ever took it. 

He knew that there would be major trouble if Nick ever found out that he was the one who stole the book. 

All the crazy theories he often came up with began to creep up on him. 

_Maybe i really shouldn't get involved with those guys. What have i done? _

He climbed into bed and tried to fall asleep but it was difficult. 

After awhile of lying down and staring up at the ceiling, he began to contemplate opening the book again. 

He was slowly convincing himself that what he did was okay. 

_What's the worst that could happen? _

He turned to the book again.

_Yeah Jesse, don't be so afraid. It's only a book._

After a long time of convincing himself, he began to search for his light in the drawer next to him. 

He didn't want to keep the lights on in his room because it would be obvious to his parents that he was awake.

He got the courage to grab the book and opened it once he found his light. 

There was a black and white sketch of Nick on the first page. One front facing and the other of his side profile. 

His full name was written on it. Along with some random personal information.

It was all very specific information. His earliest childhood memories, hobbies, and some other random things. 

"Ugh, boring." He decided to keep looking... 

The next page said "Lesson Notes." on various topics. The Power Of The Mind, Portals, Hazes, Blood Basics etc. 

It was all so strange. He was very intrigued by the word "Blood."

_This has to be something! I knew they were vampires._

After skipping pages, he noticed that none of the pages had anything written on them.

"What?" He quickly flipped through the pages to see if he could find anything else. "Such a waste." He huffed then threw the book.

He laid down and looked up, feeling disappointed. There was something off about those guys and he thought he just had all of the answers in his hands.

_Maybe these guys are nice and i'm just over thinking this. No... they bully most of the school so that's not true. Maybe they are just humans and there really isn't such thing as vampires._

His thoughts continued to run for awhile until he faced a conclusion.

_Maybe i'm just bored and making up things to make school seem more interesting. There really is nothing exciting about that place._

He sighed and threw a blanket over himself, attempting to get some sleep tonight.

***

A few hours later. Jesse woke up to the sound of chirping.

_It's time already? No._

The night went by so fast, he felt like he didn't sleep at all. He thought there was no way it was time for school again.

He opened his eyes completely and noticed that his room was still dark.

_What?_

The sound of chirping continued. He didn't know where it was coming from.

He sat up at the edge of his bed and looked around with blurry vision.

It was getting loud. It sounded like it was coming from inside his room but he figured it had to be the birds chirping outside of his window.

He was too tired to investigate.

"Ugh!" He huffed and grabbed a pillow, putting it over his head and laid back down in a curled position.

Then he felt something tickle is foot.

He immediately took the pillow off his face and crawled back. "Ahhh!!"

It was so dark, he couldn't see what it was. He turned on his lamp and screamed again.

There was a white, short haired cat with green eyes watching him.

_Since when do we have a cat!?_

He began to breathe heavily.

It meowed at him and stared.

"Nice kitty..." He said lowly in a fearful tone.

It hissed at him and he screamed, jumping out of his bed. He ran to the other side of the room.

"Jesse, is that you?" Said Mother in the hall.

She opened his bedroom door and saw that he was shaking and hiding in the corner.

"Jesse, what is going on?" 

"Why didn't you tell me we got a cat!?" He shouted. "I usually like them but that one is evil!"

"What are you talking about? We didn't get a cat."

He pointed at the cat and it hissed at him again. "There it is!"

"What? I don't see a cat."

"It's right there!"

The cat jumped down from the bed and slowly walked towards him. He got up and ran to the other side of the room.

"There is no cat. You need some rest."

"It's trying to get me." He said, hiding behind her.

"Jesse, this is ridiculous. Go to bed."

Suddenly Father walked by and stood in the doorway. He began to watch everything going on.

"No! Not with that thing in my room."

"Jesse, now."

"No!" He shouted, hugging her. "It's going to hurt me." 

She held him and noticed he was genuinely afraid, his body was trembling in fear.

"Jesse, this isn't like you. What's going on?"

"I'm scared! How did that cat get in my room?"

"Jess, there's no cat." She said softly.

She looked at him right in the eyes and asked with a concerned, comforting voice. "Have you been taking drugs?"

"What? No."

"It's ok, i can help you." She continued.

"Mum, i'm not on drugs!" He whined. "There's literally a cat in my room..." He slowed his words down and realised the cat wasn't there anymore.

He stood there silently, feeling extremely confused.

"What, i-it's gone? How is it gone? It was just here. Where did it go?" He said, beginning to laugh hysterically and walked around looking for it.

"Do you at least hear that?" He asked.

"Hear what?"

"The loud chirping? Sounds like it's coming from my room."

She looked very concerned. "No, but i'm taking you to the doctor."

"Mum! No! Please!" He begged.

"Calm down, it's for your own good." She said softly.

"I've never taken drugs in my life!" He protested.

"You forget that i was a teen once too. I know how peer pressure works."

"I don't talk to the bad kids." 

"Well that's good."

"I promise, I'm not a bad kid. I care about school and don't do drugs." 

"Yes, taking drugs are bad but not all teens that do are bad people. I'm just looking out for you, that's all." 

"I'm fine. You always see the bad kids on shows doing that stuff. I'm not like them." 

He was lying, he did experiment with a few before but he didn't want her to know. He hadn't tried anything recently but he was still afraid to tell her he ever did. He thought he would be on punishment for a long time if he told her. 

"I had a best friend in school when i was around your age, i remember her being very kind." She said.

"She did drugs?"

She gave a small nod with a sad expression. "Yes and was always so kind to everyone except herself."

He frowned. "Did she try to pressure you?" 

"She never did." She said with a slight smile and her eyes began to tear up. "Her boyfriend and his friends did. They were bad. They never treated her right. I've seen peer pressure, i don't want it to ever happen to you."

"Where is she now?" He asked.

Mother looked over at father and then back at Jesse, with pain in her eyes. "I don't know. I hope she's well."

"Don't be sad Mum. Maybe we can try to find her and you guys can be best friends again." He said encouragingly. 

"Yeah." Mother chuckled, she couldn't help the tears that slipped away from her eyes but she kept the smile.

"And don't worry about taking me to the doctor. I spent my night studying and I'm tired. You're right, i need more rest. That's all they will tell me and it will be a waste of time..."

"I still think we need to." Said Father.

"No you don't. Don't worry, i'm fine."

"I believe you. I'm just going to take you because... i want to make sure you are healthy." Said Mother, in a caring tone. 

"Muuuum, you don't need to. I'm not a baby, you don't have to worry." He complained. "I'm fin-"

Suddenly he saw the cat walking into the room again.

"Do you still see it?" Mother asked in a concerned tone.

"No, i'm fine." He played it off.

"Ok, get some rest and we'll see if you feel better in the morning. Goodnight." 

Father followed it with a "Goodnight son" and they both left.

"Goodnight." Said Jesse. He stayed as far away as he could from the cat.

The cat's eyes followed him, as he tried to make his way around it.

"You're just an illusion." He said lowly and chuckled.

It continued to stare at him and tilted its head. It looked around at the floor and stared at the book.

"You're not real." He teased.

It hissed at him then slowly walked away.

He observed it and noticed that it laid down next to the book and curled up, resting its head on it.

"I guess you're kind of cute..." He said, still with fear in his voice. "When you're like that."

He cautiously got into bed and kept looking at the cat.

"Just stay there and we won't have any problems."

The cat lifted its head and made a strange growl sound.

"Ok... I'll stop talking now..."

It looked away and rested its head on the book again, closing its eyes.

Jesse tried to relax but he kept glaring over at it. He felt so confused.

_Why didn't they see it? Why couldn't they hear what i heard?_

There was no way he'd get any more sleep tonight. He needed answers to all of this.


End file.
